Excellent Sheep The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life

“Why are Palo Alto kids killing themselves?” In May 2015, San Francisco Magazine ran a story under this headliner discussing the suicide wave among high school youngsters in affluent Palo Alto. The students painted the picture of ‘a sort of academic coliseum, where students look down their noses at peers in a lower math “lane,” guard their grade point averages like state secrets, brag about 2 a.m. cramming sessions, and consider a B a disaster’ while ‘they are simultaneously pressured to maintain an air of confidence and composure’. One of Palo Alto High School’s juniors wrote a blog op-ed saying: “We are lifeless bodies in a system that breeds competition, hatred, and discourages teamwork and genuine learning. We lack sincere passion. We are sick.”

It is exactly this kind of unhealthy academic stress in the hyper-competitive and hyper-rationalized culture of elite education that former Yale professor William Deresiewicz tackles in Excellent Sheep; a book in which he succeeds to deliver a strong message on the systemic flaws that have led to today’s soul-destroying state of American universities.

Although the Dutch context is very different from the US, it would be wise for anyone involved in higher education in the Netherlands to pick up this book. Some of Deresiewicz’ suggestions are useful for the Dutch higher education system that is dealing with its own moral identity crisis.

In the Netherlands, state-funded universities receive a steady stream of public funding. There is no accountability towards financial donors to speak of. As such, most educators and students seem to settle with mediocre academic results. This neglect of academic excellence – completely opposite to the situation in the US – has resulted in repeated concerns among policymakers about a lack of ambition among the student population. Dutch students mostly aim to survive, they are not in it to thrive. Many of them are happily satisfied with hitting the ‘six points minus’-mark on a ten-point scale, the minimum requirement to pass an exam. They are not ‘excellent sheep’, just sheep. Fact of the matter is that there is neither status nor wealth to be gained with getting high grades in a society that is inhospitable to meritocratic values. Consumed by a ‘get along or get out’ culture that silences non-conformism, students are neither incentivized nor encouraged to step away from the herd.

Surely some Dutch students do seek the elite status. They attempt to get ahead in the herd, to reach material success that they equate with self-worth. Their road to that superficial end is not paved by means of any higher intellectual achievements but social engagement. Often, they simply mingle with one another through social bonding activities, e.g. in fraternities. But even for the elite-seekers, pursuing materialistic superiority is not the solution against moral mediocrity, as Deresiewicz so vividly describes in his book from the American experience.

The ultimate question in life remains: for what purpose?

This book is for anyone who is bold enough to confront himself with this question instead of avoiding it. The journey of self-discovery and personal growth that Deresiewicz advocates is a prerequisite for all those – young and old – who want to thrive on their own terms.

In the American context, failing to find one’s life purpose is only one part of the problem; getting stuck in a hyper-competitive culture is another one. Palo Alto’s extreme case exemplifies the urgency of Deresiewicz’s book. In the San Francisco Magazine article, a Palo Altan high school student coincidentally echoes one of Deresiewicz’s suggestions for reform: “Something’s only going to change if 75 percent of us start saying to people around us, ‘Oh, you got the A, but did you enjoy the project?’ and frowning on people who just do things because it will get them someplace.”

Excellent Sheep is a must-read for brave, mindful souls looking to break away from the herd.